White Stork Reintroduction and Wetland Restoration

The white stork was extinct as a British breeding bird for around 600 years before a reintroduction program began in 2019, and its welfare depends on the restoration of the lowland wetland and floodplain habitats it requires.

Key Facts

White storks bred at St Giles House, Dorset and Knepp Estate, West Sussex in 2020 for the first time in over 600 years
The White Stork Project reintroduction program released birds from 2019 onwards in southern England
Storks require extensive wet grassland, floodplain meadows, and shallow wetland for foraging
They are highly visible birds, historically associated with human settlement and nested on buildings in continental Europe
The UK extinction was caused by hunting, egg collection, and wetland drainage during the medieval period

Welfare Considerations

White stork welfare at reintroduction sites depends on access to large areas of wet, invertebrate-rich grassland and shallow water. Newly released birds face risks from power line collision, which is a leading cause of mortality in continental European populations. The small UK population is highly vulnerable to stochastic events during establishment. Long-term welfare requires landscape-scale wetland restoration that extends beyond individual estate boundaries to create a viable breeding landscape.

What You Can Do

Support the White Stork Project reintroduction program through donations and volunteering
Advocate for power line undergrounding or bird flight diverter fitting on lines near stork territories
Engage with rewilding programs at Knepp and elsewhere that create large-scale stork habitat
Contribute white stork sightings to county bird recorders to monitor range expansion
Back floodplain restoration programs that recreate the wet grassland and meadow habitats storks require